Pulmonary and Critical Care Post-Doctoral Research Training Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We seek to renew funding for this successful physician-scientist training program that was first awarded in January 2007. The goal of our program is to develop two integrated but separate pathways that provide integrated scientific training in "clinical trials, epidemiology, comparative effectiveness, and outcomes research" and in "translational approaches in cellular and animal models of inflammation." In this renewal, we propose to include faculty mentors from the Department of Pediatrics and post- doctoral trainees who will focus on pediatric and neonatal lung diseases. The fundamental component of our program has been to develop a strong mentorship platform to support successful academic careers for physician-scientists; one that employs an intensive and diverse approach to formal scientific training for candidates who have completed or will complete clinical training in adult pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, or neonatology and who have a strong commitment to an academic career. We aim to train highly select individuals in a scientific body of knowledge that is related to the primary and secondary role of inflammation and innate immunity in a wide spectrum of lung and pulmonary vascular diseases. We believe that this scientific platform pertains broadly to the widest variety of lung diseases that share a prominent inflammatory feature and include the very prevalent diseases of asthma and COPD, interstitial lung disease, occupational and environmental lung disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic lung disease of infancy and pulmonary hypertension in the newborn. We hypothesize that an integrated program that is focused on both clinical and basic research in the context of both pediatric and adult lung diseases will inspire a new generation of successful physician-scientists. All trainees will develop an individualized research program, learn to write grant proposals, and receive career counseling and assistance in academic job placement. The progress of the trainees and their mentors will be closely monitored by a research advisory committee, internal executive committee, external advisory board, and the principal investigator. Our program is designed to emphasize novel molecular approaches in an ethical and scientifically responsible environment and has a strong commitment to attracting individuals from under-represented minorities.